Electrical connector tool



June 1969 J. K. CAMERON ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR TOOL Filed Oct. 26, 1966Sheet MN IhHW WW MN 9% I 7 a 1 J June 24, 1969 J. K. CAMERON ELECTRICALCONNECTOR TOOL Sheet 4 of 2 Filed Oct. 26. 1966 w .8 a v, q

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w% %.w hmwhm 7//7/6r ELM !1 C. P \x .\,\a\ 4 I, m i RN xi mm mm w v F\\\& Vw wk \IJ iiw United States Patent 3,451,117 ELECTRICAL CONNECTORTOOL John K. Cameron, Hillside, Ill., assignor to Amphenol Corporation,Broadview, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 26, 1966, Ser. No.589,550 Int. *Cl. H01r 3/00 US. Cl. 29-203 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A contact removal tool for electrical connectors having atubular plastic probe with a tangential slot to permit the tube walls tooverlap as the probe is inserted in a restricted aperture and tothereafter resiliently expand to properly release an internal contactretention clip.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector tool.

The tool of the invention is for removing contacts from an electricalconnector in which the contacts are held by resilient retainer clips inapertures only slightly larger than the contacts themselves. In the caseof pin contacts, these are often used in closed entry apertures in theconnector in which the outer terminal ends of the pins are adjacent theentry ends of the apertures and have larger base portions inwardly fromthe outer ends. The tool for use in removing the contacts must becontracted for insertion into the entry ends of the apertures and againenlarged after insertion into the apertures, for surrounding the largerportion of the pins. The removal tools heretofore used for this purposehave not been entirely satisfactory.

A broad object of the present invention is to provide a novel tool forremoval of the contacts from an electrical connector in circumstances asset out above.

A more specific object is to provide a tool of the foregoing generalcharacter having a tubular removal probe for direct association with thecontact and engagement with the retainer clips, which is provided with anovel tangential slot for enabling contraction of the probe for entryinto the constricted portion of the aperture, and enlargement thereof toslip over the relatively large portion of the contacts and release theretainer clip.

A still more specific object is to provide a tool of the foregoinggeneral character which is of plastic material and consequently ofsemi-rigid characteristics, having the desired axial rigidity butcontractable circumferentially, and having a certain degree ofyieldability so as to prevent injury to any of the elements of theconnector.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing detail description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an axial sectional view of the tool of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the removal probe portion of the tube;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken at line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of an electrical connector of the characterto which the tool of the present invention is particularly applicable;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of one part of the connector of FIGURE 4and showing the tool in association therewith;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken at line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 but with the tool in a differentposition relative to the connector part; and

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken at line 8--8 of FIGURE 7.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings attention isdirected first to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 showing the tool itself of theinvention. The tool indicated in its entirety at 12 is generally tubularin shape and includes a central large or main portion 14, a contactinsertion probe portion 16 which does not enter into the presentinvention, and a contact removal probe 18 which constitutes a principalfeature of the invention. Forwardly of the main portion 14 is a reducedtubular portion 20 forwardly of which is a tapered section 22, andforwardly of the latter is a final section 24 constituting the probeproper. This section 24 is preferably of cylindrical shape and has asubstantially thinner wall than the other portions. At its outer end isa slot 26 opening through the chamfered end surface 27 and extendingtangentially of the inner diameter. This slot leads axially inwardlyfrom the outer end to a cutout portion 28 which serves to substantiallyreduce the total amount of material at that portion to enable greaterflexing effect. The cutout portion 28 extends the greater portion of theprobe portion and is of substantially greater circumferential extentthan the slot, forming a tab or lip 30 defining one side of the slot,while the other edge of the slot may lead directly into thecorresponding edge of the cutout portion.

Ejection means indicated in its entirety at 32 may be provided ifdesired, although this feature does not enter into the presentinvention. Such means may include a plunger 34 within the tool securedto a knob 36 generally exterior of the tool and having connection withthe plunger through a slot 38. The plunger is biased to a retractedposition (FIGURE 1) by a compression spring 40 and upon moving the knob36 forwardly (to the left, FIGURE 1) the plunger is slid through thetool and out the end for ejecting a contact from the interior of thetool.

The tool 12 is made of plastic material, preferably polypropylene, whichprovides the desired rigidity longitudinally or axially of the tool, butprovides also the desired flexibility for contraction in circumferentialdirection as will be referred to again, in the removal of the contactsfrom the connector. Also the material of the tool itself possesses acertain degree of yieldability as compared to metal, thus eliminatinginjury to any of the elements of the connector in the removal of thecontacts.

A connector of the type with which the tool is particularly useful isshown in FIGURES 4 and 5. It includes two main parts, namely areceptacle 42 and a plug 44 releaseably connected together by means of acoupling ring 46. The details of this coupling means are disclosed andclaimed in the copending application of John Cameron Ser. No. 580,744filed Sept. 20, 1966, now abandoned, assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention.

The receptacle 42 includes a hard dielectric insert 48 having aplurality of apertures 50 receiving pin contacts 52, each of which has apin element 54 at its outer end, inwardly of which is a tapered surface55 merging with a large diameter base element 56 defining an inwardlydirected shoulder 58. The pin contact is releaseably held in theaperture by means of a snap-in contact retention clip 60 which itself isreleaseably held in the aperture by engagement with an internal rib orbead 62 in the surface of the aperture and has fingers 64 with shouldersor end surfaces 66 engaging the shoulder 58, and terminal elements 68extending axially beyond that shoulder and overlying the base element56, these extensions having inclined camming surfaces 70 utilized forreleasing the pin contact from the clip as described hereinbelow. Theclip and hard dielectric insert are disclosed and claimed in thecopending application of Joseph F. Chirumbulo 3 Ser. No. 581,903 filedSept. 26, 1966 assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The apertures 50 are of the closed entry type, the insert 48 having aninwardly projecting bead 72 at the entry, chamfered as at 73, barelylarger than the base element 56, as will be referred to againhereinbelow. The plug 44 includes a hard dielectric insert 74 havingapertures 76 for receiving socket contacts 78 each of which has a socketelement 80 at its outer end and extending substantially outwardly beyondthe end of the insert 74. The pin element 54 extends longitudinally nofarther than the end of the insert 48, and preferably slightly inwardlytherefrom, although within the axial extent of the bead 72. The socketelement 80 has an outer diameter preferably substantially the same asthe diameter of the base element 56 of the pin contact and has a socket82 receiving the pin element 54 and dimensioned for friction and rubbingcontact engagement therewith for establishing electrical contactengagement between the pin contact and socket contact. The socketelement 80 has a shoulder 84 engaged by a contact retention clip 86 ofthe same construction as the clip 64. A socket insert face seal 88 isprovided, preferably bonded to the insert 74 and engaging the otherinsert 48 when the connector is connected.

In the coupling operation the two parts 42, 44 are fitted together andthe socket elements 80 of the plug enter into the apertures 50 of thereceptacle a substantial extent, the chamfers 73 aiding in theinsertion. Also the outer end of the socket element 80 and the end ofthe pin element 54 may be chamfered for this purpose, as illustrated.

To remove the pin contacts 52 the tool 12 is utilized as indicated inFIGURES 5 to 8. The closed entry of the socket 50 is pre-dimensioned toas small a diameter as possible for purposes of maintaining properalignment between the pin 54 and the socket element 80. This posesdifiiculties in removal of the pin contact, but in the use of the toolof the present invention the probe 24 of the tool is inserted into theaperture 50 around the pin element 54, and to accommodate the smalldiameter of the closed entry of the aperture, the probe is enabled tocontract as shown in FIGURE 6 where the slot 26 is shown substantiallyclosed (compare FIGURE 3). The tangential direction of the slot enablesthe probe to wrap up, or contract, so that the edges of the slot overlapin entering through the closed entry of the aperture, the slot 26closing but the outer periphery of the probe remaining substantiallycircular in shape.

The tool is then moved further into the socket and upon engaging thetapered surface 55 spreads and moves onto the base element 56. Thiscondition is shown in FIGURE 8 where the slot 26 is substantially largerthan its normal dimension shown in FIGURE 3. Upon continued movement thechamfered edge 27 of the tool enters under the inclined surface 70 ofthe finger elements 68 and spreads the fingers so that the shoulders 66ride out beyond the shoulder 58, enabling the pin contact to be removed.

The cutout portion 28 provides a wide range of contraction and expansionof the probe, and particularly the outer terminal end portion thereof.This portion, including the tab 30 must both contract in the closedentry end of the socket and expand on moving onto the large diameterelement 56. The provision of the cutout portion 28 enhances this action,resulting in less body of the probe and correspondingly less rigidity orresistance, so that the end portion can easily contract in entering intothe socket and later expand over the base element 56.

The probe is preferably dimensioned so as to directly engage or hug thebase element 56 to assure minimum dimension of the probe when on thatelement, and to assure that the chamfered surface 27 enters under theinclined surfaces 70 of the ifinger elements 68.

The plastic material of which the tool is made possesses the necessaryrigidity in longitudinal or axial direction necessary for spreading thefinger elements of the clip but it also provides the desired flexibilityin circumferential direction to enable and facilitate the contractionand expansion in circumferential direction of the probe portion of thetool. This contraction and expansion is accomplished without any injuryto any of the elements of the connector, and additionally the inherentyieldability of the plastic material of the tool eliminates injury uponengagement with various elements of the connector and thus overcomes aserious disadvantage of tools of other types heretofore known.

The socket contact 78 may be removed in a manner similar to thatdescribed above. In connection with removing the socket contact, howeverthe probe need not be contracted in entering into the aperture 76because the latter is not of closed entry type and is of a diametersubstantially larger than the outer diameter of the socket element 80.When the connector is disconnected, the seal 88, not being compressed,reassumes an expanded position in which the aperture therein issufliciently large to readily admit the probe of the tool. Uponinsertion of the tool sufiiciently to engage the clip 86, the clip isreleased in the manner described above, enabling removal of the socketcontact 78.

While I have herein disclosed a preferred form of the invention it willbe understood that changes may be made therein within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tool of the character disclosed comprising a body including atubular end removal probe having a tangential slot therein openingthrough the end surface thereof enabling overlapping of the tube wallsupon inward circumferential flexing of the probe and correspondingincrease and decrease in its effective diameter.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the probe element includesa chamfered terminal end portion extending entirely circumferentiallyexcept for said slot, and is provided with a cutout portion ofsubstantial circumferential extent inwardly from the outer end of theprobe element.

3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein said probe portion is ofcylindrical shape, the cutout portion forms a tab at the terminal end ofthe probe portion of short axial extent, and the cutout portion extendsthe major extent of the probe portion.

4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein at least the probe portionof the tool is made of plastic material having substantial rigidity inaxial direction, but providing substantial flexibility incircumferential directon at the region of said slot, and the plasticmaterial provides a limited degree of yieldability upon engagement withother elements.

5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein the plastic material ispolypropylene.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,110,093 11/1963 Johnson.

3,170,230 2/1965 Gaizauskas 8l-43 X 3,210,832 10/1965 Kalen.

3,222,766 12/ 1965 Camargo.

3,325,884 6/1967 Blight et a1.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X-R. 29-206

